Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases, classics and a few from the growing TV on DVD section. Usually the first week of the month is the...

Guide Rating - 4 1/2 Stars out of 5 The Bottom Line I was extremely disappointed when Miramax pulled "Dear Frankie" from its 2004 release calendar. Had it found its way into theaters last year, "Dear Frankie" would have had a spot on my Top 10 list of the Best Films...

Dear Frankie I've purchased many items from Amazon based on reviews. The beauty of the net is you'll most often get the unbridled truth. So here's mine: If you're looking for a sweet, finely-crafted and moving story, get this one. I admit it. I'm crazy about Gerard...

("Dear Frankie." Miramax. DVD. 106 min. Rated PG-13. $29.99. In stores July 5. Grade: B+.) "Dear Frankie" is the sort of film that would never have been made by an American studio. It's too warm, too sweet _ too devoid of explosions. Start with the bittersweet...

There are things that happen in real life, and there are things that only happen in the movies. If the latter sometimes seem plausible, chalk it up to the power of cinema to make us believe the unbelievable. "Dear Frankie" makes a convincing case that a mother who...

With "Dear Frankie," I discovered a director whose next film I will want to see. Scottish director Shona Auerbach's first feature film is "Dear Frankie," a wonderful movie about the love between a mother and son. There is a very daring moment is this film and it,...

Lies told in the name of love are at the core of “Dear Frankie.” They’re elaborate lies. They’re inventive lies. They’re lies written by a Scottish mother to her son to shield him from painful truths about his long-absent father. In director Shona Auerbach’s lovely...

For whatever reason, the moral difficulty of raising children is rarely examined with any semblance of literary seriousness on film. Instead, this divisive but highly accessible theme is regularly reduced to being good fodder for bad comedies. That may be good news...

Finally, my hero has returned. I've been waiting for him for a while now. I was beginning to despair of fantasizing like a teenager. Ever since the last James Bond, since Russel Crowe (Gladiator), and since Rocco the porn star, I've been anticipating my new hero as...

Films like "Dear Frankie" resemble good short stories. The investment of an hour or two reaps the reward of a rich and satisfying, if brief, visit into lives both like and unlike our own. The story told in "Dear Frankie" is sweet and heartbreaking and quietly told, an...

Sometimes, as a break from the shoot-’em-up ear-splitting of mainstream Hollywood, you just need to watch a sweet, loving film about a mother who tricks her deaf son into thinking a perfect stranger is his father. And no, that wasn’t meant to be sarcastic. Despite the...

Four stars. This seems to be the month for enchanting little films from across the pond. Danny Boyle's "Millions" opened locally last week, and today it's followed by director/cinematographer Shona Auerbach's achingly poignant "Dear Frankie," a film as grounded in...

3/4 stars There's a cool, gray overlay to Dear Frankie that effectively neutralizes any impulse to extract gratuitous tears. Certainly, the premise of Andrea Gibb's script all but begs for the usual "It Will Touch Your Heart" blurbs. An intelligent, hearing-impaired...

In a seen-it-all world of cinema, the Scottish film Dear Frankie stands out as a fresh, original way to explore the human condition. While the film is remarkable for its subtle, finely honed performances, it is screenwriter Andrea Gibb's story that first jumps out. A...

Scottish drama avoids the usual pitfalls for heart-tuggers about kids When you hear the plot of "Dear Frankie," you may briefly feel a wave of cynicism roll over you. But the movie has been shot with love and wisdom, and its implausible premise doesn't get in the way...